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World Bank: same song
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September 21, 2000: 9:50 a.m. ET
Bank chief Wolfensohn reiterates need for commitment to debt relief
By Staff Writer M. Corey Goldman
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PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (CNNfn) - It's a different venue, but it's the same tune and message.
That's the impression World Bank President James Wolfensohn left with reporters and other observers at the end of a press conference Thursday leading up to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings. Wolfensohn indicated he is still on a mission to finish collecting as much as $11 billion in pledged debt relief for poorer countries.
 Echoing remarks made at last year's annual meetings in Washington, Wolfensohn reiterated the agreement between the World Bank and the IMF to better distinguish their roles. That would go some way to restoring the original separation of the two agencies' functions, with the IMF being the promoter of macro-economic stability and the World Bank aiding with poverty alleviation.
His comments gave the impression that less has been accomplished in the past year than the World Bank and its senior members hoped, in terms of eliminating debt for the world's poorer nations and easing the conditions that the bank has previously attached to loans to developing nations.
As evidence of the grinding pace of the World Bank's progress, Wolfensohn last year projected that 24 countries would qualify for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) assistance and receive some amount of debt relief; this year Wolfensohn and IMF Managing Director Horst Koehler have said they hope that 20 countries, or about double the number currently on track for assistance, will qualify. So far, 10 have committed to taking part in the program.
"...It is our hope that we will be able to encourage the developed countries to recognize that it is in their interest to bring poverty alleviation in the developing world because we are one world, and unless we get stability and growth in the developing world, we are not going to have a peaceful world," Wolfensohn said.
HIPC initiative at forefront
HIPC was an initiative introduced last year to reduce or cancel the debt burdens of the world's poorest nations. The pledge from the World Bank, the G7 countries, the IMF, other multilateral organizations and private lenders is to collect more than $50 billion to allow the Bank to write off outstanding debt.
Wolfensohn outlined many of the same issues he promised to deal with a year ago, including the HIPC initiative and the bank's AIDS vaccine initiative, which Wolfensohn pledged would not go unfunded. 
At the same time, he spoke about the restrained role members of the G7 have played in the bank's plans, taking a jibe at the United States for not yet approving its own contribution to HIPC.
"I think the immediate needs of HIPC, subject to the passage by the U.S. Congress of the U.S. contribution, are probably met," Wolfensohn said. "I think the $2.6 billion to $2.8 billion target is achievable, and then we will need to consider funding the rest of it."
Wolfensohn also addressed the current price of oil - an issue that promises to be a prominent topic of conversation at this year's meetings.
"My comments probably echo what a lot of people have said, that at a $30-plus oil price, you have a significant impact on developing countries," he said. "If it stays too high, it also affects, as you know, developed countries, and I don't think personally that it is in anybody's interest to see that."
Oil hit a 10-year high of $37.80 per barrel this week, but has since slipped back slightly. It recently traded at $33.60 per barrel, down 14 cents from Wednesday. 
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